In order to enjoy the resurrection life of Christ we need to first experience the death and burial of Jesus. This is a life to, for and out of Him, a life in the Spirit. When we look at the Garden of Eden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a picture of the self-life kingdom (the domain of satan), while the Tree of Life is a picture of the Christ-life kingdom. Jesus died so that we could inherit this kingdom. Satan tempted Adam and Eve with three things in the self-life kingdom – the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. While Adam and Eve fell, Jesus patterned for us the overcoming life when He was tempted by satan in the same manner in the wilderness and did not succumb to temptation. The self-life is a life of self-worship and idolatry, instead of a life of value. We have been designed by God for this life of value, to worship and glorify Him from our hearts. What we place in a place of value or treasure, sets the agenda for our thoughts, desires, choices, words, and actions. There is a war between the two kingdoms, not only of behaviour, but for the heart. So much of the Church is man-made religion, empowered by fleshly ability rather than the power of God. The worship of self is pandemic in many western churches while the way to a vigorous, powerful, victorious Christ-life is to deny self and die to self. Our inheritance does not consist out of things, but Christ himself. We entertain the flesh because we get what we want when we want it, very often we are not convinced of the goodness of God, and we do not believe that the God-life is more fulfilling and satisfying than the self-life. The kingdom of self must not be appeased, but discerned, defeated and destroyed. We need to invest into the Kingdom of God to be beneficiaries thereof. If we want more of Him, He certainly needs more of us.
